Christopher F. Rufo
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2020–2023
11:00 · 1.9M views · Aug 3, 2020
A short documentary by Christopher Rufo presenting a conservative account of homelessness, addiction and public disorder in San Francisco.
HN uses it as one of many clips documenting San Francisco's decline, and some commenters criticize it as pushing a point of view.
3 comments from Hacker News
There's an interesting counterplay of narration vs content going on when the video starts quoting the city. It starts showing (recalled) District Attorney Chesa Boudin speaking[1]: > The movement we built must continue to grow. It must demand that San Francisco make it easier to get help than it is to get high on our streets. Then overdubbing Chesea talking, it says: > Under the leadership of District Attorney Chesa Boudin, the city has released nearly half of all it's prisoners from the county jail and decriminalized tent camping, drug use, prosititution, and public defecation. Returning to Chesea's audio, > It must demand that we stop using the jail as the primary place to treat people suffering from mental illness. This is not my city & I don't live anywhere near here. It seems like a bad situation. I can have sympathy for what seems like a really bad situation. But this video seems to be trying to make a point about the city, about it's failure, and while I can agree that what's happening isn't working, while I can agree this seems terrible, I agree with Chesa Boudin here 100%. The counter-narration atop him, trying to shade him & whatever is afoot here, does not resonate. Jails are not the place. That said, we did just come from a segment that I do find some affinity for, a man who had lived on the streets as an addict, talking about how homelessness is not a crime, drug use is not a crime, but you are responsible for your actions & what you do. Eric Adams, NYC mayor, wa
Example: Hillary Ronin is the supervisor for the mission. An area that was historically lower income minorities, now being displaced, in part due to a lack of housing units. She has fought for years to stop the construction of buildings that would add both affordable units and market rate units. "Ronen fought to prevent the construction of a 75-unit building on the site of a laundromat. She argued that an environmental review of the building did not consider the impact of a shadow on a nearby schoolyard, even though an environmental review conducted by officials at the San Francisco Planning Department showed that the new construction, including its shadow, would not have an adverse impact on children at the schoolyard.]" [LINK] Starting at 7:41 in this video an interview with the same supervisor. this video The tax breaks that she is referring to were roughly $10mm/year. [LINK] The city's budget increased by nearly $6bn during the time the tax breaks were active (largely fueled by the growth from tech boom).
CBS News. San Francisco Luxury Condo Overlooks City's Worst Squalor: [LINK] CBS News. KPIX Special Report: San Francisco's Tenderloin – A State of Emergency [LINK] ABC News. Here's why one of San Francisco's top officers says crime is here to stay [LINK] KRON 4. 70% of San Francisco residents say quality of life has declined: poll [LINK] Christopher Rufo. Chaos by the Bay: The Truth About Homelessness in San Francisco this video NBC News. Saving San Francisco: Ep. 5 'Why Should I Live in Fear?' [LINK] There are probably hundreds of these clips. I am sure you can also dig up reasons why the DA was recalled. 850k people are unhappy. 40% of the residents want to leave: [LINK] When close to half of the population of a city wants to leave, probably a good idea to accept what's wrong with the city and try to look inward.